OT: Marchand lifts Bruins over Avs

Colorado teetering with Chicago for last place in Central

BOSTON — Brad Marchand has a knack for the net in overtime. A lucky bounce helped him get another winner for the Bruins on Sunday.

Marchand scored 4:03 into the extra period after his shot deflected off an opponent's skate, extending Boston's points streak to seven games with a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche.

Patrice Bergeron left the puck at the top of the right circle for Marchand, who skated into the slot and inadvertently used Matt Calvert's skate to get the puck past goalie Semyon Varlamov.

Marchand extended his franchise record with his 14th career overtime goal.

"We got a lucky bounce, and we'll take it," Marchand said.

John Moore also scored and Jaroslav Halak made 35 saves for the Bruins, who improved to 4-0-3 in their last seven.

Boston (31-17-8) moved one point ahead of rival Montreal for third place in the Atlantic Division and trails second-place Toronto by a point.

"It was a needed point for us," said Halak, who snapped a personal five-game skid. "The standing in our division, it's tight, and it's going to be a race until the end so we need to keep getting points right now."

Nathan MacKinnon scored his 29th goal for Colorado, tying Gabriel Landeskog for the team lead. Varlamov had 33 saves as the Avs lost their seventh in a row (0-3-3) but earned a point with a third straight overtime loss.

"It's just not good enough," Varlamov said. "We've got to find a way to win in overtime."

The Avalanche sit four points out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

MacKinnon gained control of the puck in the corner before charging the net and beating Halak high on the glove side for the game's first goal with 32.1 seconds left in the first.

Boston tied it on Moore's goal nearly four minutes into the second. The veteran defenseman's wrist shot from atop the left circle found its way past a screened Varlamov for his third goal of the season.

MacKinnon's perfectly-timed exit from the penalty box during a Bruins power play midway through the period resulted in a breakaway, but he hesitated and jammed the puck against Halak's blocker.

Moore nearly scored another when he dumped the puck into the Avs' zone, only to have it take a wild bounce off the glass and zip past an unsuspecting Varlamov with 24.1 seconds left in the second. The referees waved it off, saying the puck went out of play after hitting the curved glass next to Boston's bench.

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